Who We Are

President and Chief Executive Officer

Richard experienced success early on in his career, making a name for himself in the areas of oil exploration, home building, and real estate development. He founded RHW Hotels, Inc. in 1983 upon being one of the first franchisees to pioneer the new, all-suite, extended-stay hotel concept called the Residence Inn. Since then, Richard has established a well-known reputation for being a successful innovator in the development and management of many high profile hotel brands within corporations such as Marriott and Hilton.

Richard knows that keeping up with the barrage of information in this timely industry is crucial. When he’s not overseeing company operations, you’ll quite often find him behind an industry report or trade magazine monitoring the current business and economic climate. His personal ambition and enthusiasm inspire the staff to succeed every day and drive him to maintain the company’s status as the leader in the industry.

Chief Operating Officer

Chandler began her career in the hotel industry in 1982 by working part-time at the Alameda Plaza in Kansas City. She joined RHW Management in 1987 as part of a management apprenticeship program, landing as the Assistant General Manager of the Residence Inn, Union Hill.

Since then, Chandler has worked in both full-service and select service, holding several management and director positions at the hotel level and above.In March of 2009, Chandler was named Chief Operating Officer for RHW Management where she is primarily responsible for shaping RHW’s strategic direction, creating organizational policy, and serving as the principal external representative to hotel franchisors and the business community.

Additionally, Chandler has served on several tourism industry Boards of Directors, has served as a hospitality Project Director for the University of Missouri-Kansas City, currently serves on the Boards of the American Hotel & Lodging Association, the Greater KC Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation, and the Kansas City chapter of SKAL International, and is a member of the Marriott Courtyard Franchise Advisory Council and Marketing Fund.

Chandler holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Advertising from the University of Kansas, along with a Master’s in Business Administration from Baker University.

Senior Vice President

Tom joined RHW in 1983 as Construction Manager after establishing a successful reputation with his own development and construction company. He quickly demonstrated his leadership acumen by overseeing the development and construction of RHW’s first hotel project, the Residence Inn in Overland Park, KS.

Through the years Tom has guided dozens of quality hotel projects coast-to-coast from the initial site selection to completion. He has developed the expertise necessary to overcome challenging barriers to entry, negotiate sound contracts, oversee architectural design, ensure franchise standards and approvals…ultimately delivering impressive projects on time while closely controlling costs. It is because of this that Marriott selected RHW to build the first Courtyard Generation 2 prototype in 1999 and in 2004 RHW was awarded the title of Developer of the Year by Hotel Business Magazine.

In March of 2009, Tom was named Senior Vice President of RHW where he continues to oversee all aspects of hotel Development and Construction with the additional responsibility of executive leadership over RHW Management. Additionally, Tom has been on the Design and Construction Committee for Residence Inn by Marriott since 1990 and also sits on the SpringHill by Marriott Construction Advisory Council.

Outside of work Tom is a licensed flight instructor, responsible for the evaluation and training for six major insurance carriers for high performance aircraft. He is also active in his church where he serves as a local Elder and teaches a weekly bible class.

Controller

Vice President, Administration

Brad attended the University of Kansas and has been in the hotel industry since joining RHW in 1993. After completing RHW’s Hotel Management Training Program, Brad held management positions for a variety of hotel brands including Residence Inn by Marriott, Historic Suites of America, and Fairfield Inn by Marriott. Brad’s fascination and experience with inner workings of technology has been instrumental in keeping RHW current with the ever-changing world of network communications.

As a General Manager, Brad opened the Olathe, Kansas Fairfield Inn where he was awarded the coveted Blue Diamond Award not once, but three times, and the White Diamond Award twice for superior guest satisfaction. In 1998 he became a member of the corporate staff as Operations Coordinator, and at the same time, continued his extensive training in the areas of Accounting and Information Technology.

Today, Brad combines his dedication to the company operations and accounting responsibilities with his training as a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer. This enables him to update and maintain all of RHW’s technology and network communications systems. His ability to not only oversee network operations, but put us at ease, makes him a vital part of the RHW team as we communicate with each other and our clients.

Vice President, Hotel Operations

Hospitality is a complicated thing that can be executed simply by the right person.  Finding and cultivating the right person is the most important aspect of lodging operations.

Growing up an outdoorsman I live to be outside.  My favorite places include the Boundary Waters, Colorado and the Everglades.  On a typical summer I spend a week or two in a canoe with my pup Maggie, enjoying all that mother nature has to offer.

When not in a canoe I stay connected with Residence Inn as a member of the sales and marketing committee as well as the system standards committee.  Both help shape the future of the Residence Inn brand.

Chief Financial Officer

Regional Manager – Midwest

Director of Revenue Management